JACKSON, Miss. – Millsaps College Director of Athletics
Aaron Pelch announced on Tuesday that head men's and women's tennis coach
Davis Elkins will be resigning and will become the assistant men's coach at Swarthmore College.
Following four seasons guiding the Major tennis programs to new heights, Elkins will reunite and coach under former Millsaps head coach
Jason Box in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. A national search for a new Millsaps men's and women's head coach begins immediately.
"In four years Millsaps has given me more than I could have ever prepared for," Elkins said. "I'm proud to be able to say I coached at Millsaps and will miss all of those a part of this outstanding community, especially the athletics staff and my students-athletes. A special thank you to Coach Pelch and Dr. Robert Pearigen for taking a chance on me, when many others may not have, and supporting me every step of the way. I will treasure my experiences here for the rest of my coaching career and am thrilled to see how high these two programs can climb."
Elkins joined the Millsaps tennis program as an assistant coach in the summer of 2017. He took over as the interim head coach in the fall of 2018 and officially became head coach in March of 2019.
Over that time, Elkins coached the women's program to a 43-21 (16-3 Southern Athletic Association) record and helped the men post a 38-22 (13-10 SAA) mark.
Elkins was named the SAA Women's Tennis Coach of Year in 2021, guiding the program to its first SAA regular season and postseason titles with an undefeated conference regular season. The squad made its first NCAA Tournament appearance and claimed its first NCAA team victory as well.
The women posted five SAA Tournament wins while the men tallied three victories in three league competitions with Elkins on the coaching staff. In 2018,
Alex Centurion and
Davis Plummer became the first Majors to qualify for the NCAA Tennis Championships on the men's side since the mid-1980s. Additionally,
Grace Gaskins became the first Major to qualify for the women's individual championship since 2015 in 2021.
The Majors tallied several other SAA and academic accolades during Elkins' four-year tenure. Both the men's and women's programs combined for 17 SAA Doubles Teams or Players of the Week and 16 All-SAA performers. In total, 71 student-athletes earned spots on the SAA Academic Honor Roll.
Elkins coached Gaskins to become the SAA Co-Newcomer of the Year in 2018, an UTR ITA National Player of the Week in 2020 and the SAA Player of the Year in 2021. His final season also saw
Camille Fremaux named the SAA Newcomer of the Year and
Maggie Dabadie tabbed the SAA Tournament MVP.
During the 2017-18 season, Elkins assisted Jason Box in coaching both programs to a conference championship appearance. For the first time in over three decades, each team attained a national ranking during the course of the year. Elkins helped oversee recruiting, player development and day-to-day planning.
Prior to Millsaps, Elkins played four years of collegiate tennis at the College of Wooster in Ohio, graduating in 2017 with a degree in Economics. There he found most of his success on the doubles court, earning First Team All-NCAC honors his junior year and Second Team honors his senior year. In his senior campaign, Elkins and his doubles partner, Jack Buchan, broke the 33-year-old school record for most doubles wins in program history.
To keep up to date with everything surrounding the Millsaps men's and women's tennis programs follow the Majors on Twitter and Instagram, like Millsaps Majors Athletics on Facebook or visit gomajors.com.
